Effect of the symmetry energy and hyperon interaction on neutron stars

Abstract

The joint effect of the density dependence of the symmetry energy and strangeness content on the structure of cold neutron stars is studied within the framework of a relativistic mean field theory. It is shown that 2$M_\odot$ are obtained for repulsive $YY$ interaction and preferably for a small or a large slope $L$. An attractive $\Sigma$ potential in nuclear matter will favor the appearance of strangeness in stars with a mass as small as $\sim 1 M_\odot$, if, however it is repulsive only stars with a mass $\gtrsim 1.4 M_\odot$ will contain strangeness. The joint effect of reducing the symmetry energy slope and including hyperons is to farther reduce the radius. Neutron star maximum mass evolve non-monotonically with the symmetry energy slope, and the smallest masses are obtained for values $L\sim 80$ MeV. Other neutron star variables evolve nonlinearly with the slope of the symmetry energy and depend on the hyperon-nucleon and hyperon-hyperon couplings. The radius of a neutron star is linearly correlated with the neutron star total strangeness fraction and the slope is independent of the slope of the symmetry energy and the mass of the star.